((TW: This first post deals with some heavy themes of suicidal ideation and potentially disordered eating, please thread at your own discretion.))

Night had fallen over the continent, where the rest of the pack was starting to turn to their rooms and dens Emile had other thoughts. The young Adravendi had slid back some in the days since his run-in with Bowen, he stayed in his pile of blankets longer, doing everything in his power to make sure he wouldn't run into her and stayed out later, he hardly slept anyway so what was the point? He was visibly smaller now, though he obviously hadn't shrunk in height his once well-balanced physic was starting to turn towards light, and though she wasn't emaciated yet it wasn't hard to see he might get there sooner rather than later. After all, Emile was hardly eating, only taking from the pack stores when he couldn't handle the hunger anymore, couldn't handle the shaking in his legs... Tonight he would drag himself beyond the castle, beyond the courtyard out and further than the young man had ever gone before. He didn't have a destination in mind, he hardly had goals in his mind anymore. All he could think about was his guilt and the punishment he deserved. He'd hurt Bowen and for that, he deserved to be punished, he'd disappointed his family, and for that he also deserved punishment. Emile thought about dying a lot as of recently, had wished more nights than not that he would simply close his eyes and never open them again. As his paws carried him towards the canyon and for a moment he stood at the cliff edge, eyes staring down at the dark water that snaked through the gash in the earth. Intrusive thoughts of his body laying broken at the bottom filled his mind, but the will to do it, to just move his limbs and throw himself off never arrived. Instead, he turned away, putting a safe distance between himself and the cliff edge. The yearling flopped down in the grass and turned his head towards the sky. It had been hard to miss the strangeness that fell over Auster with each setting of the sun, the moon full and round as it had been for the past days despite the fact it should have started waning, the streaks of stars in the sky and the ghostling blue dancing lights of fireflies. It was eerie, it was beautiful. Emile wondered if the world was ending, and was okay with that. "Speech"

Art by Sigath

Kiyo had certainly gone further south than she’d been before, but she was relishing in the warmth it provided in contrast to the cold of the north. Per usual, she’d been out on an herb collecting trip, scouting the various territories to see where would be the best to gather certain herbs when Boreas was in the clutches of winter and Auster was warm with the summer. Ashen was located in prime real estate, bordering Auster perfectly with one of the Archipelago islands, making access to the bifrost quite easy. From there, the journey was much more pleasant and warm.

The pale woman had skirted along the edge of the canyon, applying an abundance of caution should the rocks be more loose that she thought and sent her tumbling down to the depths below. She would certainly prefer not to be traveling so close to the drops this late into the evening, but it couldn’t be helped as some of the herbs she was looking for grew in the particular climate that the Canyon possessed. As she went, a pale figure appeared in the distance. She paused, wondering if her eyes were deceiving her and that she was starting at an apparition. With the strange ambiance that had spread across both continents, she wouldn’t put a trick of the eye past the effects of what it could do.

Yet, a gust of wind told her otherwise. The clear scent of a real wolf brushed past her, and suddenly her heart was sinking. He was far too close to the edge, his gaze far too glassy. She knew that look, she’d worn it herself many times before. Kiyo picked up her pace, a bit of relief washing over her as he turned and walked away, flopping into the grass to stare absently at the sky. She didn’t know the pup, but he didn’t seem much older than her grandchildren. She wanted to pull him into her embrace and let him feel whatever emotion he needed to feel, anything to get out the emptiness that she saw there.

She approached quietly, choosing to sit down a few feet away. Her own silver gaze turned to look up at the sky, watching the oddly colored falling stars that seemed to stop and go and stop and go and switch directions, as if driven by some entity unknown to them. “What a strange world we live in,” she commented, her voice gentle and soothing.

"Speech"

Emile dropped his head onto his paws, he could hear and smell the stranger but he expected her to pass him by. It would not have been different from his experiences to not draw anyone's attention. But she approached and Emile's head lifted, dark green gaze following her as she settled a respectful distance away and he blinked at her as she spoke. He considered her words, not wanting to summon his voice to stammer his way through speaking but her gaze was turned towards the paint-streaked heavens. A nod simply would not suffice. "Iiiiiiiit is." Emile managed, his voice hoarse from dehydration, malnutrition and, misuse. The young man glanced upward again, the screeching of a bat caught his attention and he watched the creature wing its way across the sky and he had to wonder if he'd imagined the way it seemed to lightly glow, a trick of the moonlight? "Speech"

Art by Sigath

The croak that emitted from the boy’s throat startled her, though her expression did not show it. There were few things she and her son, Hattori, had in common, but the uncanny ability to school their expressions were certainly one of them. After years of abuse, she’d learned the hide any possibly displeasing emotion behind a demure expression, as if she were simply contemplating the weather. His voice belied little use, which was especially curious considering he smelled of a pack. But, by his appearance, she wondered if he was possibly a slave. Venom’s kin, Chimera, had had a tenacity for slavery, of which she considered to be abhorrent. In Iga they had had slaves, to be sure, but she had never partook in them or wanted them around her home, though her husband had certainly had a different opinion. She desperately wanted to offer him refuge with her, but bit her tongue. She didn’t want to scare him away.

“In my homeland, there is an old legend from which we have a festival each summer. We write a wish on a piece of paper and attach it to bamboo, then, at the end of the seven day festival, we float the papers out to sea so that the Gods may read them and grant our wishes. It is not summer, but this canyon will surely lead to the sea. Is there, perhaps, a wish you would like to send to the Gods?” she asked out of nowhere. Fallen stars were an auspicious sign in Iga. It was said that many shrines were made from Fallen stars even, and the sky above them seemed to be providing plenty. Perhaps, this meant that the Gods were closer to the earthly realm and would receive the wishes? Her ghostly gaze followed him, watching as the bat drew itself across the odd sky. It did, in fact, seem to glow ever so slightly, but it wasn’t such an odd thing to her. After all, her own grandson glowed.

"Speech"

Emile kept his gaze on the sky, on the moon that refused to wane and the trails of stars in the skies, and the slow-growing colony of lightly glowing bats that left who knows what cave they'd been holed up in. He listened to the woman as she spoke, his eyes closing and the unnatural light of the moon washed over him, he sighed for a moment, wondering if he should answer the woman. She was an absolute stranger and had no reason to care about him... But maybe that was even better... He opened his eyes, forest greens seeking out her silver form, bathed in a pale blue light from the unnerving moon. "Iiiiiii'd wish Iiiiiii could stop-p-p-p-p hurtinggggggg." Well it was out there, might as well... The world was ending anyway. "Speech"

Art by Sigath

Emile

A chill dips into the air. You also find 4 crystals. Maybe these are worth keeping…

The woman hadn’t fully expected the boy to reply to her. After all, she was, as he’d thought, a complete stranger to him, a stranger who had no business sticking her nose where it didn’t belong. But, she also knew she’d never live with herself if she didn’t try something to help, both as a healer and a grandmother of 5 pups a little younger than him. When he did reply, she only felt her chest tighten further. It was clear he was deep in the clutches of depression, his forest green gaze hazy with sadness even under the bright, oddly colored moon above them. It seemed appropriate that it would bathe them in blue to represent the feeling that seemed to emanate from him in waves. But, she was a stranger and he was too far from Ashen to become a regular patient. But, even then, there was something she could do for him.

The silver woman turned and dug into the medical pack she had strapped to her back, blowing away the buzzing purple fireflies that floated around in what felt like droves. From within, she dolled out a few servings of Salvia and Lavender, wrapping them neatly in individual bundles before turning back to the boy. She got to her paws and placed them in front of him, hesitating a moment before gently covering one of his white paws with her own. There, beneath the frozen falling star sky, she offered another grandmotherly smile that crinkled the corners of her silver gaze. There was no judgement there, nor pity, but simply a profound understanding of the weight of the sadness that encapsulated him. She’d been through it herself. “I’m sure the Gods have heard your wish, but they need a little help sometimes to make their blessings work. I offer you Salvia and Lavender, easily gathered around this canyon. They may help ease your mind and reinvigorate your appetite, though be careful with the Salvia. I know you may feel alone, Shin'ainaru hito*, but should you ever need a listening ear, you may find me in Ashen in Boreas.” It was an offer with no strings attached, nothing that he’d need to feel pressured to uphold, but to know that someone was there if he needed it. It was all she could muster, but she hoped he would understand that.

* Shin'ainaru hito= dear one

"Speech"

Kiyo

Overhead you see a bird soaring past. Wait - it seems to be glowing. Strange... You also find 1 mushroom. Maybe these are worth keeping…